The Different Types of Water Softeners  

Have you ever heard of a water softener? This device treats water and adjusts its hardness to make it soft and suitable for drinking and everyday use.

A water softener is the device you need to drink and use soft, healthy, clean water every day. Yet choosing one is not always straightforward for everyone.

If you are wondering which type of water softener to choose, you have come to the right place for a satisfying answer!

Choose your water softener

Resin-based water softeners

A resin-based water softener works by passing hard water through a special resin. When this resin comes into contact with hard water, it triggers an ion exchange that separates limescale from the water, keeping soft water on one side and hard water on the other.

As the resin becomes increasingly loaded with limescale, it needs to be cleaned—a process called regeneration—to become fully operational again.

This general principle is common to all types of water softeners currently on the market. That said, there are different types of water softeners, which we introduce here.

Water softeners without resin

You can find different types of water softeners on the market. A salt-free water softener, for example, does not contain ion-exchange resin because it does not use salt. It operates using filtration, microfiltration, polarization…

A Co2 water softener is another salt-free model that is less common these days. It works with carbon dioxide cylinders and involves introducing CO2 into water pipes to eliminate limescale in the water.

A carbon water softener, also called activated carbon filtration, filters water to remove odors (mainly chlorine), unpleasant tastes, and colors that do not necessarily make you want to drink or use it. The filtered water becomes healthy and suitable for drinking and everyday use.

A water softener with magnets, or a magnetic water softener consists of an anti-scale system fitted around the main water pipe in your home. It is a housing or a pipe with anti-scale magnets placed around it.